Bill for UT Medical School keeps growing....

UT medical school’s cost hits $436 million, a $100 million increase

The price tag for building the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas has gone up by more than $100 million — in large part because the original figure didn’t include completing much of the interior of a building that will house various clinical areas and a same-day surgery center.

The UT System Board of Regents is expected to approve a $436.4 million budget for the Dell school Thursday, nearly all of that sum underwritten by bonds. That is $101.9 million, or 30 percent, more than the $334.5 million cost originally approved by the board in May 2013. Since then, senior UT System officials approved three separate increases that stepped up the price to $367.4 million, thus putting Thursday’s expected increase at $69 million.

The regents’ Facilities Planning and Construction Committee approved the plan unanimously Wednesday, but not before Regent Alex Cranberg questioned the increases. Michael O’Donnell, associate vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction, said the increases weren’t cost overruns but anticipated expenses because some interior spaces were left as shells until the medical school dean was hired to guide decision-making.